HOW IT'S DONE

The birth of a WÜSTHOF knife

THE BIRTH OF A WÜSTHOF KNIFE

Knives

Made in Solingen. And only in Solingen

Unlike many other manufacturers, in over 200 years of history we have not succumbed to the temptation of manufacturing in Asia or South America. And there is a simple reason for this: we value the heritage and identity of the City of Blades, Solingen. We believe that quality knives can only be made where high-precision production processes meet traditional craftsmanship: our Trident Works is just such a place.

40 steps in the WÜSTHOF knife production process

It takes forty steps to turn a piece of WÜSTHOF steel – a special mixture of chrome, vanadium, molybdenum and stainless steel – into a quality knife. When it comes to very heavy or nanometre-precise work, we use the latest robotics and lasers, but we rely upon our 400 employees when craftsmanship, a good eye, intuition and experience are required. Taken together this means that our customers can be sure that every knife has passed through the hands of a trained specialist.

WÜSTHOF steel – the essence of sharpness

We use a special knife steel for production: it is corrosion resistant, significantly reduces wear due to its hardness and is easy to resharpen. Our laser-assisted sharpening process also means that the blades offer impressive cutting performance from the get-go.

Our formula for optimum sharpness: X50 Cr MoV 15

X

Stainless steel

The basic material of our knives

50

Carbon content

The 0.5% carbon content is important for the hardness and thus also for the sharpness of the knife

Cr

Chrome

The additional alloy ensures a particularly high rust resistance in the finished blades

Mo

Molybdenum

An alloying element that increases the strength and corrosion resistance of our blades

V

Vanadium

Increases strength and toughness to significantly reduce wear

15

Chromium content

An amount of 15 %

We produce 1.7 million knives per year, both by hand and with the help of technology. Each and every one of them: Made in Solingen.

However, this does not mean that technology dominates our production process. On the contrary, for us, classical craftsmanship and automation go hand in hand. We are particularly proud of the workmanship that naturally couples with high-quality manufacturing for our distinctive knife series.